Dangerous Games
by bluerain1984
Summary: YGOxIY When Kaiba sneaks down the hidden well looking for answeres, he meets with a mysterious and alluring woman in the dark forest. What will these dangerous games do to Kaiba and the priestess Kikyo? Renamed from 'Dangerous Fascination'
1. Dangerous Fascination

Disclaimer: I own nothing.   
  
AN: I'm writing this Kikyo/Kaiba fic on my own, since my brother is a Kikyo hater. This oneshot came from an idea of a 'what if' scenario once, and I've built on it. The events can have taken place anytime between 'Seeds of Chaos' and 'Chaos Scare' (or maybe after both, hehe).   
  
P. S. This is a repost. Rated for a future chapter.  
  
Dangerous Games  
  
Part One:  
  
Dangerous Fascination  
  
Setto Kaiba's limo pulled up to the Sunset Shrine late one night. As the teen millionaire exied the vehicle, and climbed the stairs, he started to reconsider his choice. Not too long ago, he'd followed Kagome Higurashi, Yugi Mutou, and the rest of their motley crew down a hidden well, and fought a great battle with a demon named Naraku- at least, one of him. They'd destroyed the older version of the creature, while the younger still roamed the lands of the Feudal Era- and he'd been fascinated by the ancient world ever since. But unfortunately, Kagome refused to let him follow her or anyone else down the well. She feared that he would use the well's secret for his own personal gain.   
  
She was partially right.   
  
By now, Setto was inside the mini shrine that housed the forbidden Bone Eater's Well. Legend said it contained a creature that ate the bones of dead monsters. He now knew the truth of it… as well as how to use the time portal's powers. He reached inside his long coat, and pulled out the Millennium Rod from it's place on concealment. Then, Setto Kaiba braced himself, got up on the ledge of the well, and jumped in.  
  
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Kaiba pulled himself from the well using the rope ladder that the other time travelers had made. AS he sat on the edge of the rope ladder, he looked about the forest. He cursed.  
  
"Without that stupid miko or Yugi, I can't find the village. I want to talk to that old woman Keade." he said to himself as he pondered on which direction to go.   
  
When he was here last, and he met the old priestess named Keade. She'd seemed like a senile old fool when Kaiba had first met her. His impression didn't change. But she did say something to him once that ad intrigued him. It was when she was telling him the story of The Shikon Jewel, and of Inu-yasha's past.  
  
"My sister Kikyo had the power to purify the Jewel," Keade had said, "and of all the many beings that came to steal it, Inu-yasha was the strangest of all. I was only a girl, but I saw how my sister and Inu-yasha were. They had a great love for each other that was unlike anything I'd seen. They seemed like kindred spirits; rejected or feared for their differences, and drawn to one another because of those same differences. Then, the wounded bandit, Onigumo, became Naraku and tricked them both into betraying one another. After Kikyo shot Inu-yasha with her sacred arrow, she died, and took the Jewel with her. Now, she has been reborn into Kagome, and come back."  
  
"Rubbish," Setto had said after the old woman told her story. "I don't believe in reincarnation."  
  
"Even though ye are one yourself, Sorcerer?" Keade had asked.   
  
"I still don't believe any of that nonsense. I will admit that I can use this Millennium Item," he'd said, gesturing to the Rod, "But that is because I am strong."  
  
"You are a fool, and a stubborn one at that," Keade had said. "You think you have real power over that Item? I have seen King Yami with his Puzzle. He accepts who he is and was, and therefore has great power. Even the young man, Joey, is more powerful than ye, for he also accepts his destiny. Only when you admit that there are things in this world that are not easily explained, then, and only then, will you know the full power that runs in your blood. I see it bursting to get out of ye, yet ye hold it back. I pity ye, Sorcerer Kaiba." Then, she had walked up to give stew to soldiers.   
  
Now that Setto had had time to think, he wanted to know more. He still didn't believe in reincarnation, but he had opened up his mind to the possibilities of forces that could not be explained. As he turned to his left, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned, and saw lights in the forest. Bright white lights. He looked up, and saw more of these lights in the sky. They definitely weren't stars. They were moving. Heading for an unknown place with in the woods. He had to see where they were going. Had to know. He turned to the right, and ran into the deep, dark woods.   
  
He ran through the trees, his coat snagging on branches and brush every other minute. Yet he raced on, following the mysterious lights. Finally, he came to a place in the forest where the lights were brightest. He shielded his eye from the lights' intensity, and saw that the lights came from white orbs that were carried by long, white creatures. They were snake like, and yet also had fins like fish. And they had six twisted arms that held the white orbs.   
  
Theses snake-fish creatures went forward to a tree, and tossed the white orbs into the branches. Setto Kaiba squinted his eyes, and saw that laying in the trees was a woman. His heart stopped. His eyes widened.   
  
She looked exactly like Kagome. It was impossible.  
  
Setto stepped forward, and the snake-fish creatures scattered. The woman opened her eyes, and stared at him. Her lovely face twisted into anger.   
  
"Who are you?" she demanded. She arose from her nest of tree limbs. She wore the garments of a priestess. Her black hair flowed like a dark river in the wind. "How were you able to break my barrier?"  
  
"What barrier?" Setto asked. "I only followed lights into the woods."  
  
"Who are you?" the woman asked again in her husky voice. " You have the aura of a powerful being… yet you seem too young for your power."  
  
"Hm," Kaiba said, "More psychic garbage? Before I tell you who I am," he said, coming towards her, making her step away, "Why don't you give me your name?"  
  
She looked him over, from head to toe. She was considering something about him. She smiled. It was a beautiful smile- quite an alluring one- yet it made his blood run cold.   
  
"You are a sorcerer," she sated. "And from your manner of dress… Are you from the age of Kagome and King Yam?" she asked.   
  
"You might say that," Setto said, stepping forward again. "You can call me Kaiba if you want. Now, what are you called."  
  
"Many things," she said. "A soul eater. A witch. A phantom. The latter is most correct. But if it is my name you desire to know," she said, now stepping up to him- only inches from him- and looking into his eyes with her mesmerizing brown ones, "I am… Kikyo."  
  
He jumped. How could that be?! She was dead!  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
Kaiba jumped where he stood. Kikyo smiled again. She guessed that he would have heard of her.  
  
"You're lying," Kaiba said. "Kikyo's dead!"  
  
"I am dead," she said, delighted in frightening this sorcerer. "I died over 50 years ago. But a witch took the ashes and dirt from my brave and made a clay body for me."  
  
"But…" he said, stuttering, losing his calm demeanor and composure, "But that's impossible. Even if you were a clone you'd need a… a…"  
  
A soul," Kikyo said. She laughed. "Oh, but I do. It is not complete, but I have one. You see, Sorcerer Kaiba," he winced at the name, "I was already born into the girl called Kagome. But a part of her spirit, the bitterness and hatred that I'd built for my former lover, Inu-yasha, was left in me. Now I wander this earth."  
  
"This is all impossible," Kaiba said. "Why do these creatures come to you?"  
  
"They are soul gathering demons," she said low, "They bring me the souls of dead maidens to keep me alive… Yes, that is what they are. You did not know, did you?" she asked.   
  
As she did all she could to shock and frighten this man, she wondered why she even bothered. She usually would have run from such people. But this one was fascinating. Not only did he break through her shielding barrier, but he also seemed compelling… magnetic. She enjoyed looking at his eyes as they widened with shock and fear. They were an interesting color… like ice…  
  
She would keep him. Unlike the beautiful, kind Nanashi she'd met before- the warrior who followed King Yami- she had no qualms about taking this man. Nanashi had been good to her. He'd shown her kindness and mercy and happiness… Nanashi- Joey- been her friend. This man, Kaiba, could not be such a person but… her body yearned for a long forgotten touch. And this one was handsome. It was not love that compelled this feeling. This was more beast like.. More sensational… More carnal. She lifted her hands up beside his face, and began her spell.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
Setto looked at this woman. He couldn't understand it… he was afraid… afraid of her. Yet… he also didn't want to run from her. He wanted to know about this woman, but also didn't want her anywhere near him.   
  
Stop this lunacy, his rational self said. This woman… She's just a pretty face with a broken mind. She was insane. Yet another part of him started to feel like he was being swept under water… or like he was intoxicated… yes, intoxicated by this beautiful, willowy woman and her talk… He closed his eyes… he let his head begin to drop…  
  
But from the depths of his mind, he saw two faces that he could not banish, like he had his rational thoughts. One was his brother. His kid brother, the only person left in the world with him who'd cared about him, even in his worst moments.   
  
Then, she saw, and heard, Serenity's face. Serenity Wheeler- his sweet Serenity- who'd shown him the meaning of compassion and pity and… love…First he heard her sweet laugh. Then, her face went serious… She was crying. Then she spoke.  
  
"Setto," Serenity said. "Setto, please, open your eyes. Open your eyes! If you don't… If you don't accept who you are, she'll steal your soul!"   
  
Setto's eyes shot open. As he looked at Kikyo, it was like a veil had been lifted from his eyes. He saw who she really was now. Yes, she did look like Kagome, but she also had the shroud of the grave on her. She had both her hands up near his face. Setto reached up a hand, much quicker than he thought he could, he grabbed her wrist.   
  
As he felt her icy flesh, two things happened.   
  
His hand erupted in flames.  
  
Kikyo shrieked.   
  
The dead priestess wrenched herself away from him, stuck out her hand, and repelled him from her. He landed several feet from the phantom woman. She held up her tattered sleeve, and looked at her arm. It was whole except that…  
  
Except that she had a burn mark in the shape of Kaiba's hand on her wrist.  
  
He'd done that… He'd done it! How had he done that?  
  
She looked at him, her eyes burning with rage and fear. She stood up, and held her unburned arm up. The soul collectors encircled her and began to lift her up.  
  
"I know not what you are, Sorcerer," she sneered, "But I promise you, you will pay for this!"  
  
Kaiba looked up at the retreating woman as she fled in the light of the rising sun. He looked at his hand. It hjad been on fire only moments before, yet now it looked normal. Had he really done that? Had her truly used some power within him to break Kikyo's hold on him? As he pondered this, he remembered what Serenity's image had said. He remembered what Keade, and even Kikyo had said. Then, he knew.  
  
Yes. Yes, he had done it. He had called up the powers of his ancient self- the power hidden deep inside him- to save his life.   
  
As he turned back to the well, he didn't know if it was the after affects of her spell, but… He still felt a strange fascination with this woman. He would learn more one day.   
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
"That is three men whom I have lost," Kikyo said to herself. As she fled from the frightening Sorcerer. "And three times I have been rejected. True, I did not love him, as I do Inu-yasha and Nanashi… but I would have liked to have known some form of companionship… even for a small measure of time." As the warm rays of the sun caressed her cold face, she began to cry. Would she always be so alone…?  
  
To Be Continued  
  
AN: Please review. 


	2. Dangerous Obsession

AN: Here's Part 2!  
  
Dangerous Obsession  
  
------------Seto Kaiba awoke with the feeling of pure ice numbing his skin. He remembered sleeping in his huge, luxurious bed in his mansion in Domino, Japan. Now, as he craned his neck to look around, he saw he was in a barren, snow covered land. His night shirt was gone, he wore only a pair of flannel pajama pants, and his bare feet and chest stung from the freezing snow that fell from the gray sky. He tried to sit up, but his arms were bound in ice, under the snow he now lay in. He heard the light crunching of snow under feet. He tuned his head and…  
  
"You!" he gasped.   
  
"Did you think you had escaped me, Sorcerer?" the dead priestess Kikyo said as she walked closer to him.   
  
Only last week, Seto Kaiba had stolen away to the Higuarshi Shrine to go down the hidden well that took one to the Feuding States Era. When Kaiba had gone, looking for answers to questions about his past, he'd met this phantom woman by accident- and his own curiosity- "Last I recall," Seto said snidely, "You were the one running from me."  
  
"I had underestimated your power," she said now, looming above him. "I have taken precautions this time, by encasing your arms in ice."  
  
"You are a witch," he sneered. "You're sick! You're insane!"  
  
"No, Sorcerer," she said softly. She knelt beside him, and loosened her kimono, "I am simply lonely. You know what loneliness is… do you not?" she asked as the cloth fell away, revealing two smooth, ivory shoulders.   
  
"You know nothing about me," he said coldly.  
  
"I know enough," she said as she ran her hands along his chest, up to his shoulders. "You are a man who pushes away everyone who tries to show you kindness and love. I once loved one such as you."  
  
"You mean that half-demon Inu-yasha?" Seto asked her. "He seems willing enough from what I've seen. He follows that Kagome everywhere." He felt her icy, dead, hands, tighten their grip on his shoulders. The pain from her hands was worse than the freezing snow he was trapped in. He'd struck a cord.  
  
"You will not speak of her in my presence!" she shouted at him, her eyes filling with hatred at the name. "Yes, I did love Inu-yasha once. But now I am incapable of such feelings…" she leaned over him and licked at his Adam's apple, "Which suits us perfectly. "  
  
Seto squirmed from her touch as her frozen lips kissed up his neck to his chin. His mind was beyond confused. He hated this woman's touch, yet there was something that was exciting about this. But he was more disturbed and frightened than excited. As Kikyo leaned over him to kiss his lips, he called the forces from inside him to flow to his arm… He wrenched it from the snow, the appendage glowing red from the fire in his veins. He reached to grab Kikyo's neck, but she ran from him as soon as his arm was free. Kaiba's other hand, also glowing with fire, came from it's bonds of ice, and felt along the ground for something… The Millennium Rod. He sensed it was near; KNEW it was near. He reached behind himself… There! His right hand clutched at the Rod as Kikyo rose, prepared to strike with a psychic attack. He raised the Rod high above his head…------------  
  
"Seto!" Mokuba's voice cried. Seto opened his eyes, and felt his body fall from… onto his bed. He sat up, gasping for air. He was sweating bullets. How could that be? He'd just been in an ice ridden wasteland. Hadn't he. He still held the Millennium Rod in his right hand. It glowed bright gold, but now it's light was dying out.   
  
Mokuba stood in the door way, dressed him his pajamas, his mouth gaping open with shock. "You… you were FLYING…" he stuttered.   
  
"You must have been dreaming." Seto said, trying to regain his composure.   
  
"No… No I wasn't!" Mokuba insisted. He walked over to his brother's bed, and sat up on the edge. "You were FLYING! You were laying down, but you were floating in the air over your bed! It was magic, Seto!"  
  
"Garbage," he replied.   
  
"No it's not!" Mokuba cried. "Seto, you must have found some of your old powers from your past life. If you work on it-"  
  
"I will do nothing!" Seto yelled at his brother. Mokuba jumped, coming down off the bed. His eyes looked hurt. He had frightened him.   
  
Seto sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Mokuba. I haven't had enough sleep. What time is it?"  
  
"Three o'clock," Mokuba answered warily. "AM."  
  
"Why are you up?"   
  
"I couldn't sleep. Then, I heard you in here. I figured it must have been a bad dream, so I came in to check on you."  
  
Seto grinned, "I used to be the one who checked on you when you had nightmares."  
  
"I'm older now," Mokuba said, sitting back on the bed. "I don't have that many nightmares anymore."  
  
"Then you're more grown up than I am. My nightmares keep coming," he said, half joking. But only half.   
  
"Want me to stay in here with you until you fall asleep again, big brother?" Mokuba asked. He Didn't wait for Seto to reply. He crawled up and lay on the pillows. Seto sighed, and lay down beside his younger brother. Mokuba fell asleep before Seto did. Having his younger brother there was comforting. Seto remembered when he was younger, and his brother was little. They both often had nightmares, and found comfort in each other. Mokuba had been all he'd had in the world for a long time. Only recently had the list of people he cared for gone up. Now he was in love with Serenity Wheeler. Kikyo had been wrong, he thought. There were at least two people he loved. He did not reject everyone.   
  
After an hour, Seto closed his eyes, and he too fell asleep.  
  
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Kikyo gasped for air. She'd used a great deal of energy to go inside Sorcerer Kaiba's mind. As her soul collectors flew out of the dilapidated shrine to gather more souls for her, Kikyo took out her medicinal herbs and salves. She unwrapped the bandages around her wrist. Her last encounter with Kaiba had left her with a large burn that encircled her entire wrist. Now, after eight days, it had begun to heal. But it was still a reminder.   
  
"It was not only in my flesh that his impression is burned," Kikyo said aloud to herself. "He has burned himself into my mind. I have given up many things, in order to find solace in solitude. But now… I wish to remain alone no longer. I will have someone to wash away this void in me. His cold heart is a perfect match for my own. I will not be denied." She applied the healing salve, and waited for her collectors to return.   
  
To Be Continued…  
  
AN: Short, yes, but I had to get this written and up soon. When inspiration hits, it hits. Please review 


	3. Dangerous Thoughts

AN: Part 3 is up!  
  
Dangerous Thoughts  
  
He hadn't had a good night's sleep in weeks. Seto Kaiba dried his hair from his morning shower, and combed it smooth. As he looked as his reflection in the mirror, he noticed the dark circles under his blue eyes. Almost every night, she came. In his dreams, in the recesses of his mind, Kikyo the priestess came to him, using her feminine charms to seduce him. Because of her tricks, he'd started to lose sleep. He'd stay up at night to avoid dreaming.   
  
"She's haunting me," he said aloud to his reflection.   
  
Later, he met with his girlfriend, Serenity, and hung out with her, her brother, and their friends from Domino High. The rest of them went about their lives, never guessing what Seto suffered each night, alone. He wanted to tell them. He truly did but… What would Serenity say? What would any of them say? Yes, they would offer him help- that was their way- but wouldn' they also be angry, appalled, that he'd gone down the well? Or worse, Yugi and Wheeler might start teasing him about giving up his stubborn disbelief of their past lives. No, he couldn't tell them.   
  
The whole situation was made worse later that afternoon. After school they were in Yugi's grandfather's card shop. Kaiba had his back to everyone, looking at the new cards on display. Suddenly… a slender hand from his nightmares grasped his arm. He shot up and spun around slapping away that hand.   
  
"What's you're problem?!" Kagome Higurashi yelled. "I was just trying to say 'hi'."   
  
"I… Forgive me…" Seto said, breathing in deep. "You startled me."  
  
"Whoa, wait," Kagome said sarcastically, "You mean I scared you, the King of Ice? I don't think so." She crossed her arms, and stared at him. His pulse slowed at last. Yes, Kagome was Kikyo's reincarnation… yes, she did look too much like her at times… but right now, she was just Kagome. Not the woman of his nightmares.   
  
"It's rude to sneak up on people," Seto said calmly.   
  
"You should talk," she replied.   
  
"Guys, don't fight," Tea said.   
  
"We need to get going if we're all gonna make the movie," Yugi said. They group walked out of the card shop. As he strode beside Serenity, Seto reached over, and took her hand. She gave a little gasp of pleasant surprise, then smiled and blushed as they walked hand in hand. Seto rarely held her hand, but he needed her touch now. It was a gentle touch. A warm touch. Alive.  
  
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As the moon took it's place in the sky, Kikyo walked out into the chilly air. After several attempts at subtle seduction, she'd till failed to make Kaiba give in. Tonight she would push harder than she had before. She raised her face to the moon's pale beams, centered her mind… and waited.   
  
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After the movie and post cinema pizza binge with the others, Seto asked Serenity to come over and watch TV with him and Mokuba. Much to her brother's disliking, she accepted. The rest of the evening had gone on in a normal fashion. They watched cheesy sitcoms and degrading reality shows until Mokuba fell asleep on the couch, and after Seto had taken him upstairs and tucked him in, he escorted Serenity to the front door, where outside a limo waited to drive her home. But tonight, on this night of normalcy, Seto did something very unexpected.   
  
"Would you… like to stay. Over night?" he asked Serenity.  
  
She blushed, and laughed nervously, "Seto. I… I'm really not like that, you know. I mean I goof around, but-"  
  
"I know that," he replied, "I would never ask that of you. I only don't want to feel alone tonight."  
  
"Alone?" she asked him. "Seto, sweety, you have Mokuba and all your staff here. You can't possibly be alone."  
  
"I don't mean in a literal sense," he tried to explain. "I… I haven't been sleeping peacefully for some time. I keep having nightmares that… that disturb me deeply. And I simply don't want to feel like I'm suffering alone."  
  
"Oh, my sweet Seto," Serenity said kindly, putting her soft warm hand up on his cheek. "You're never alone. You have Yugi and my brother and the others as friends, even though sometimes they don't act like it. And you have your brother, who looks up to you and thinks the world of you. And you have me. Always." She hugged him, laying her head on his chest. He took in a deep sniff of her hair. It smelled like green tea. He put his arms around her and held her close to him. Then, she raised up on her toes and kissed him, softly and deeply. When she pulled away to go, he held on to her hand until she needed it to close the door. Her sweet, loving face smiled and smiled even as the closed. Then, Seto went up reluctantly to his room.   
  
He dressed in his night clothes, took the Millennium Rod from it's safe, and climbed in bed. He made a quick wish- or perhaps a prayer- that tonight he would sleep peacefully. Then, he close his eyes…  
  
------------ This time, he felt grass under his hands. Again, he was half naked, but it was nighttime, and in a forest. Like the first night…  
  
"No." he whispered. He grabbed the Millennium Rod, and scrambled to his feet, but before he could run, his body was seized by hundreds of scratching, rough hands. No, not hands. Tree branches. A tree had his arms raised above him, caught in it's limbs. It's roots wound tight around his feet. He was trapped. He writhed in the leafy bonds and called up his powers. Though his arms burned with fire, they did not burn the tree's braches.   
  
"Struggle all you wish," Kikyo's husky, mesmeric voice said as she stepped from the shadows, "You will not escape tonight."  
  
"Not likely," he said, "As long as I have my-" he looked up to his hand. His empty hand. The Rod! It wasn't there! He looked about, and saw it on the ground. He must have dropped it when the tree first caught him.   
  
"Oh, you mean your magic Item?" Kikyo asked coyly. She stepped up to the Millennium Rod, and kicked it sideways into the darkness of the forest. "You do not need it now."  
  
"Release me, you carnally corrupt cadaver!" Seto shouted.   
  
Kikyo merely smiled, "You hurt me, Sorcerer. I had thought perhaps you would enjoy some company," she reached up and untied her hair. It cascaded down her shoulders like a black waterfall. Then, with a flourish of her hands, she untied the sash around her waist, and threw her kimono from her shoulders…   
  
She stood before him in absolutely nothing.   
  
She slowly stepped out of her discarded clothes, and with grace and ease she stepped up on the roots of the tree that bound Seto. She pressed her heaving, naked chest against his. Lifted her hands to touch his face. He moved his head around, closed his eyes. But Kikyo's cold palms forced him to face her. Her breath in his face forced him to open his eyes.   
  
He looked into her deep brown eyes knew he'd made a fatal error. Already he felt himself slipping away.   
  
"Don't hold back," she whispered as her frigid fingers caressed his face. "Let me own you. Let me have all of you, mind, body, and soul. Give yourself to me, and I will give you all that you desire. Power, immortality; everything. Just let me touch you, hold you, know your body more than you know it…Please," she whispered as her icy lips met with his warm mouth.  
  
The intensity, the passion, the urgency, of that kiss was incredible. He couldn't stop himself. He kissed her back and let her tongue explore his own mouth as they kissed harder and stronger. She pressed her bare flesh against his partially clothed body. Wrapped her arms up around his neck.   
  
He was dying. He could feel it. The longer he kissed this soulless Siren, the more he lost of himself. He felt his very essence draining away. But why, WHY, did such a horrible, frightening experience feel so pleasuring? He was demented! He was going crazy!  
  
Suddenly, a part of him - a part that was still the rational, thinking, living Seto Kaiba- grabbed and brought up a memory from the darkness that invaded his brain. It was a recent memory. Serenity, and him, at his front door. She was kissing him, and holding his face in her hands, just as Kikyo had done, but…but he remembered the warmth of that touch. The honesty and sincerity of it. The life in it.   
  
Seto opened his eyes and pulled his lips away from Kikyo's. Before she could pull his face back and kiss him again, he let out a guttural cry, and opened his right hand. The Millennium Rod flew from the darkness and went straight to the hand of it's master. As Seto's cry turned into a full out, animal scream, he called up all his energy, all his power.   
  
It wasn't enough. The tree, though it shock and trembled, did not release him. But at least as the tree shook in it's earthy foundations, it made Kikyo lose her balance on the roots and fall to the ground.   
  
As he thrashed about, trying to pull himself from the tree, he heard Serenity call him in his mind.   
  
'Seto!,' Serenity's voice said, 'Call him!'  
  
'Who?!' Seto's mind asked. 'Call who!?1'  
  
'Me…' said a voice that sounded like his own. Seto opened his eyes, and looked over his shoulder. Beside him, partially within the trunk of the tree, was… Himself! No, not himself. It was the spirit of the Sorcerer of Egypt. His ancient counterpart.   
  
'How do I escape! Please! I need help,' Seto pleaded the spirit.  
  
'Now you open your eyes to the truth,' said the spirit of the ancient Sorcerer. Remain calm, and repeat after me,' he said.   
  
Seto nodded, and as the Sorcerer's spirit spoke to him, Seto recited the ancient incantation aloud, in a strong, but calm, voice. With each word, the tree that held him seemed to be screaming, and as Seto reached the end of the phrase, the branches and roots loosened their grip, and threw him away. He landed several feet from both the tree and the priestess. Seto turned over, sat up, and watched a the tree dissolved and turned into a writhing, massive tangle of the soul gathering demons.   
  
Meantime, Kikyo had grabbed her robes and had them wrapped about her. With one hand she held the white and red robes closed, and the other she extended.   
  
"You will not escape me again!" she cried. Kaiba raised his arm above his head, but he was too weak. He wouldn't be able to bring himself out of this nightmare.  
  
Suddenly, the sky above them erupted in light. Not the light of day. This was a different light. In this light, the form of a human body appeared. The person had wings.  
  
"Serenity!" Seto gasped. She was surrounded by light, but aside from that and the wings, she seemed her usual self. She was even dressed in normal clothes. She reached out for his hand.  
  
"NO!" Kikyo screamed. As she wound up her arm and threw a pink and purple orb of energy at them, but a second orb of similar energy smashed into it. Kikyo looked up, and her face twisted in utter contempt and hate. Beside Serenity, also with wings, was Kagome. She had thrown a psychic, spirit attack at Kikyo. During this diversion, Serenity grabbed Seto's hand, and pulled him up into the air with her. She nodded at Kagome, and they both took hold of Kaiba's arms, and flew up to the light. ----------------  
  
Seto fell again from the air to his bed. But as he lay on the torn sheets, he looked around. Beside him were Serenity, Mokuba, and Kagome. Serenity's necklace was glowing, and Kagome had hold of a bed post to hold herself up. Both of them had haggard, ashen faces.   
  
"Mokuba heard you screaming," Serenity said. "He called me, and I called Kagome. We came as soon as we could. We saw you floating above your bed," the girl started to cry as she continued, "You were tossing… waving your arms around…I was so scared."  
  
"She used her necklace to connect with your mind," Kagome said, finally catching her breath. "I used my powers to take us to where you were."  
  
"You… you saw…" Seto looked between them. He felt his heart - and stomach- dropping.   
  
"We saw." Kagome said. "But we know you it wasn't your doing."  
  
"I…" Seto looked from the miko to Serenity. As they looked at each other, he felt something in him break. He lurched forward and wrapped his arms around her. He had his chin on her shoulder. He held her and let the living warmth of her flow into him. Finally, he said, "I'm sorry! I… She…"  
  
"I know," Serenity said, putting her arms around him, too. "It's not your fault. I'm sorry. I had… I thought you were strong enough. I should have listened to you."  
  
"Please," he said. He raised his head, and looked at her, then looked at Kagome. "Please, don't tell anyone about this."  
  
"But-" Serenity tried to object.  
  
"We wont." Kagome agreed. "But if she comes back, we'll be here. And we will bring the others. We won't be strong enough next time. We were lucky that we caught her off guard."  
  
"Th… Thank you," Seto said as he sat down again. As the sun rose outside, the silent Mokuba climbed up and hugged him, and Serenity and Kagome walked out of the room to fix breakfast. Seto was very thankful. He'd survived another mental attack from Kikyo. But… would he be lucky enough to survive next time? He hoped there wouldn't be a next time.  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
Kikyo rose up from where she'd collapsed. The night was gone, and so was her chance to regain control of Sorcerer Kaiba's mind. She was too weak to try again this night. Or even tomorrow. She would need rest and reviving. But she knew she was close. She would have her companion. She would not be alone forever. She would not.   
  
To Be Continued…   
  
AN: Please reveiw 


	4. Dangerous Confrontation

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.   
  
AN: Here's the last installment of the 'Dangerous' stories. Because of one scene in here, I will have to change the rating to R. But, I hope you will still enjoy the story.   
  
Dangerous Confrontation  
  
All was well at the Kaiba estate that night, just as it had been for two months. In Seto Kaiba's personal computer room, the monitors set up around his room picked up no irregular activity. Ever since the last psychic dream attack from the dead priestess Kikyo, Seto had taken precautions that only his brother and he knew about. He had set up special sensors and monitors in the office that recorded Seto's brain activity, blood pressure, and heart rate. Should any or all of these go up at an accelerated rate, that meant that either Kikyo was attacking again, or that he was having a legitimate nightmare. The only thing that truly detected the difference was the infrared beams that made a grid over Seto's bed. Every time Kikyo attacked, her visions caused Seto's powers to start up, and this caused him to start floating over his bed. But now if anything broke the beams of light, it would trigger an alarm, waking Mokuba up and giving him enough time to call for Serenity and Kagome, who knew about the nightly invasions and had the powers to retrieve Seto from them. This all worked, in theory. But the resurrected woman had not come for him in over two months. At last, Seto had begun to sleep peacefully, and dream of more blissful things. Like on this night…   
  
------------ As Seto kissed Serenity's warm lips, and felt her soft, smooth body under his own, he felt pure ecstasy. He felt as if he was melting himself into her. Becoming one with her. He placed his hands firmly on her naked hips and rolled the both of them over. As he waited for her kisses and delighted, girlish giggles, he suddenly felt a chill go up his spine. Then, the chill seemed to covering his bare abdomen.  
  
"Wha-?" he started to ask. Then, his heart seemed to stop with fear. The naked female body on top of him wasn't warm with human life anymore. It was frigid and cold as ice. The hands the clutched his arms as the woman rose and fell on him were like daggers! He opened his eyes…. And looke dup into two, blood red, soulless orbs within a beautiful face.  
  
"Ki…Ki…!!" Seto tried to say, but his voice stopped in his throat.  
  
The priestess looked at him with dementia in her eyes, and began to laugh, first low, then, slowly rising to a laugh of pure insanity and malice.   
  
"Do you like what you see?" she asked, her incisors growing into fangs. "Do I arouse you… SORCERER!?!" She shrieked, her nails digging into Seto's flesh, drawing blood. Seto cried in pain and utter terror just as Kikyo leaned down to drive her fangs into his neck….-------------   
  
"NO!!!" Seto screamed, sitting upright in his bed. He looked around wildly. His breathing slowly began to slow down as he realized that this nightmare had been a real one. Not one of Kikyo's psycho mind attacks. He let his head drop into his hands, and felt the despair set in. Would he ever be rid of that woman's ghastly image? Would her attempts to gain control of his mind and soul end? Or would she drive him mad?  
  
Seto thought, and an idea came to him. He would not run or hide in fear. That was not his way. HE was a man who faced his battles head on, and didn't buckle down or quail when things looked their worst.   
  
"I will be free of her," he vowed.  
  
--------------------------------------------------  
  
As Kagome prepared to leave the house for school, she looked out her window at the beautiful day. It was so nice… She decided to wear short sleeves today. But as her view turned towards the front yard and the mini-shrine, she blinked, and rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. She wasn't. It was Kaiba! He was walking towards the well house!   
  
"Oh no," Kagome groaned. She left her shoes and socks on the floor as she bolted from her room and raced down the stairs to stop him. She bolted out the door, leaving her perplexed family in her wake.   
  
"Kaiba!" Kagome shouted. "Kaiba, NO!"  
  
"Leave me alone, child!" Kaiba shouted at her. He lifted his Millennium Rod and threw her back twelve feet. As Kagome tried to recover from the magic blow, she lifted her head, and saw Kaiba standing at the open door of the shrine.   
  
"I've had enough of that psychotic succubus's invasions," Kaiba sneered. "I'm going to kill Kikyo, and end my suffering." Then, he turned and went into the shrine, closing the door behind him. Kagome sat up, then struggled to her feet. She didn't know what to do! She couldn't go after him and stop him, she was too weak. Who could be stronger than either Kaiba or Kikyo…?  
  
"Yugi!" Kagome said. She got up, and staggered back to the house.   
  
"Kagome," her mother said, worried, "What on earth? Are you okay, sweetheart?"  
  
"I… I need the phone," Kagome said, crawling into a chair.  
  
"But-"  
  
"NOW! Please, Mom," Kagome said. "If I don't get the others, Kaiba might die!" Her mother didn't question her. She got the phone, and handed it to Kagome. Kagome slowly dialed the number. The line rang… picked up… "Yugi? It's Kagome. Get everyone over here now… Kaiba's in trouble."  
  
----------------------------------------------  
  
"Where is she?" Seto demanded from Keade. He'd traveled back in time to the past to confront Kikyo… But he didn't know where to find her. So, he went to the only person who had the slightest idea of where the dead priestess would be.  
  
"I do not know, Sorcerer Kaiba," Keade said sternly. "I have only seen her a very few times. She is carried off by her demon soul gatherers, and disappears for a time."  
  
"I must find that witch!" Seto yelled. "I must kill her and end her attacks on me! She's even begun to invade my own nightmares, not just the ones she creates to lure me!"  
  
"I am sorry," Keade said. "I cannot help you."  
  
"Then you're worthless, old woman," Seto spat. "I'll track her down! I'll find Kikyo and turn her to smoldering ashes!" He turned and dashed from the hut, and began walking towards the forest he'd first met the phantom woman before. But. As he neared the entrance to the woods, a red and gray blur leaped from behind him and blocked him.   
  
"Did I hear you say you're going to kill Kikyo?" Inu-yasha snarled.   
  
"I don't have time to bother with you, Inu-yasha," Seto said. "I have unfinished business with your ex-girlfriend."  
  
"You're not going anywhere," Inu-yasha warned. Seto's six-sense detected the presences of three others. He looked over his shoulder and saw Miroku, Sango, and Shippo behind him. "Hm," Kaiba said, slightly amused, "None of you can stop me. I have realized my full powers. I can crush you all without trying."  
  
"Oh yeah?" Inu-yasha growled, unsheathing the mighty Tetsusaiga. "Then try!" the han-you charged and swung his sword at Seto, but Seto lifted the Rod, and extended his hand. With the voice of the Old Sorcerer of Egypt giving him the words to say, Seto spoke an ancient incantation, and not only did it reduce the Tetsusaiga to a worthless heirloom, but it sent everyone around him sprawling several feet.   
  
As Inu-yasha reeled from the blast, he looked up and watched Seto stride into the forest. Then, Seto turned his head to the flabbergasted han-you. "I don't care about your pathetic feelings for that walking corpse. She's plagued me for too long. I suggest you get over it." Then, Seto looked to the sky. He squinted…. There! Soul gatherers! And they were headed towards the distant horizon. Seto knew of only one way to track them. He opened his deck box on his belt, and looked through his card until he found the right one.   
  
"Blue-eyes White Dragon!" Seto summoned. A void opened in the sky. Lightning flashed from nowhere… And the powerful, legendary Blue-eyes flew down to its master. When the large beast had touched ground, Seto climbed on it's back, and said, "Follow those demons, my Blue-eyes." The dragon roared in acknowledgment, and began to flap it's wings the wind generated nearly blew the people, kitsune, and han-you on the ground away again. Then, the dragon took off, following the soul gatherers. As the dragon carried him high above the landscape, Seto knew his days of fearing the night would end soon.   
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
"She's been what?" Tea exclaimed when they all assembled at Kagome's place. She'd gotten in touch with Yugi before he left for school, and they all drove here. Not long after, Mai and Bakura showed up, since they were the last of the Millennium Item carriers. Kagome and Serenity both explained the situation. And now the guys were silent while the girls where sickened. "That's so gross!"  
  
"It's cheap," Mai said, leaning against the wall.   
  
"It's a rouse," Yugi/Yami finally spoke. "I must confess, I have seen and spoken to Kikyo many times before. From what I've seen, she is incapable of any true human feeling. I therefore think that she is only after Kaiba for his powers and Millennium Item."  
  
"Are you sure, Yuge," Joey asked quietly from where he stood. "I mean… why would she go to all this trouble of…. 'charmin' him if she only wanted his Millennium Rod?"  
  
"A slave is one thing, Joey, but a 'willing' slave in another. I suspect that she wants Kaiba to willingly serve her, thus giving her both his natural magic powers, as well as the infinite power of the Rod."  
  
"A slave's still a slave," Trsitan said. "And Kaiba must know that. Why else would he go after her? Isn't that what should be done?"  
  
"Actually, Tristan," Bakura said, "This might be what Kikyo wants."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Serenity asked, afraid.  
  
"Think of this from her standpoint," Bakura said, "It's like Yugi says. She wants a willing slave, but with Kaiba's strong will, that's virtually impossible. So, as I see it, she's been sending these visions to Kaiba not as a tool of seduction, but as a means to break his mind, and render him helpless against her powers. Once Kaiba's given in to madness, his soul and rational mind are forfeit."  
  
"Then that means when he goes to destroy her…." Serneity started to say, tears welling in her eyes.  
  
"He will become her puppet." Yugi/Yami finished. "We must go, now, and stop him from finding her."  
  
"You are too late," said a masculine voice from the hallway. They all turned and saw Miroku and Sango standing there. They were bruised and looked like they'd been through the wringer. Miroku continued saying,   
  
"Miroku?" Kagome asked, "Guys… where's Inu-yasha?"  
  
"He tried to stop Kaiba," Miroku said. "We all did, but we failed."  
  
"He called his dragon," Sango said, "and chased after Kikyo's demons… Inu-yasha went after him."  
  
"He wants to stop Kaiba… and save Kikyo," Miroku said. Everyone paid a brief thought of remorse for Kagome. Everyone now knew of Inu-yasha and Kikyo's past, and how it was a shadow on Kagome's relationship with the han-you.   
  
"Then we shall go after them both," Yugi/Yami said. They all got up, and headed downstairs, for the well…  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
Kikyo waited. She had felt the Sorcerer's presence in this world the moment he arrived. She knew why he was coming. He had purposed to kill her, and free himself. Little did he know. Giving into such a fit of madness would break him at last.  
  
"Soon," she said, "He will be mine, and I shall never be alone again." SHe looked to the sky, and lifted her hand. Her servants were coming. They not only brought her more souls to sustain this body, but, as she looked in the distance, they brought her prize to her. She peered at the horizon, and slowly, a shape began to emerge from the clouds. Her eyes widened in awe of the sight. A blue white dragon, with magnificent wings and a fluid, wonderful grace flew towards her. The eyes were amazing! So deep a blue, there could be none. This dragon's eyes were deeper brighter than the sky! Deeper that the sea! And on the wither dragon's back rode the Sorcerer, looking just as powerful and majestic as the beast that carried him. She had chosen her token well. The wind created by the enormous wings of the dragon was stronger than a tornado's. She only just managed to keep her footing as the dragon touched ground and let it's master leap from it's back. Then, with a burst of white light and specks like miniature falling stars, the dragon disappeared, and Kaiba the Sorcerer stood before her.  
  
"Well met," Kikyo said. "HAve you come to surrender yourself to me, Sorecerer?"  
  
"No," Kaiba said with contempt. "I have come to destroy you, and send what's left of your soul back into the Abyss."  
  
Kikyo only stared at him for a moment. Two moments… Then, she slowly began to laugh. The laugh grew louder, and higher in pitch. Soon, she sounded like a mad woman with her soul cutting laugh. Kaiba lifted his Rod up close to his chest. He looked like he was cringing.   
  
"Fool!" She spat out. Kikyo lifted her hands, and brought her wrists together, her hands looking like they held something large and round within them. She stuck her hands out, and cried, "You think you can stop me!?!! I am KIKYO!!!" an orb of purple and pink light emerged from her hands, and sparks like small lightning bolts charged and sputtered from it, and instantly, it shot out from her hands and struck Kaiba's chest. He was thrown several feet away, but he got back to his feet. He called forth an attack he called 'Black Lightning', and the dark energy struck the ground at Kikyo's feet as she sprang away. Now… the battle would begin….  
  
Suddenly, a red streak flashed in front of Kaiba. It was Inu-yasha!   
  
"Kaiba!" the half-breed shouted, "I won't let you kill Kikyo!"  
  
"Out of my way, you disgusting dog!" Kaiba yelled back, firing his Black Lightening at Inu-yasha. "Can't you see that I'm freeing you from her spell as well?"  
  
"What spell?!" Inu-yasha demanded, "No one controls me! And if you step near her again, I'll rip out your heart!"  
"Then perish with her, you imbecile!" Sorcerer Kaiba shouted. He fired, and his lightning split, striking at Inu-yasha. This was perfect, Kikyo thought. Now she would gain a bedmate and have her revenge against Inu-yasha!   
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
People on the ground quailed in terror. Only moments ago, a great white dragon had flown overhead, inciting fear and dread. Now, two more dragons flew above them!  
  
But they did not know that the people controlling those dragons, Red-eyes and Harpy's Pet, were Joey and Mai, who'd called them with their Millennium Items, and now their group, riding on both, were tracking down Kaiba. It wasn't long before they saw the serge of magic and energy that radiated from the forest up ahead. The Red -eyes and Harpy's Pet found a clear spot to land in that was well away from humans and their dwellings, landed, and their masters' and the others climbed on their backs. Having served their purposes, they disappeared in an array of light and dazzling colors.   
  
"Now," Yugi/Yami said, "We must stop Kaiba." The all raced ahead into the woods, following the pulsating flow of energy that the battle was creating. As they the edge of the tangle of trees, coming to the space where the abandoned shrine stood, they were met by a frightening sight. Kaiba wasn't just fighting Kikyo. He was fighting Inu-yasha too! His eyes icy eyes were wild with rage and fury. He was on the brink of madness.  
  
"We have to stop them," Serenity cried, trying to break forward. Bakura grabbed her.  
  
"No, Serenity!" Bakura and Yugi/Yami whispered fiercely. "You're not strong enough to break that trance they're in." Bakura said.  
  
"Trance?" Kagome asked from behind.  
  
"Yes," Bakura replied. "Kaiba's in a trance, locked on the brink of madness. Unless someone stronger than him brings him down, his mind could spill over into the darkness of insanity."  
  
"Who's strong enough to stop that?" Tristan asked.  
  
"No one," Miroku commented.  
  
"I may be able to stop them," Yugi/Yami said, "I shall try."  
  
Meanwhile, as Joey stood watching in the shadow of the trees, his head began to ache terribly. He closed his eyes, and images flashed before him. Images of this Kikyo- who resembled Kagome so much- looking out at a sunset, turning to look at him with eyes wide with surprise. Kneeling before him, here eyes full of longing and complete sorrow. Finally, he heard his own voice ask 'So why don't you?'  
  
'Because,' her deep voice- a voice he'd never heard before- said, 'I, too, was human once…'  
  
"NO!" Joey screamed. He broke out of the trees and charged towards the battle before them.  
  
"JOEY!!" Serenity shrieked, trying to break from Bakura's hold, "Brother!! NO!!"  
  
"Joey!" Yugi/Yami commanded, "Come back!!!"  
  
--------------------------------------------------------  
  
"This ends NOW!!!" Seto screamed with madness. With one hand he made the gesture of gripping something hard, and Inu-yasha reached up to his neck, and gagged like something was closing off his breathing. Then, Seto turned, and looked at Kikyo, and aimed his Rod at her. He began to chant an incantation that was so old, so powerful, that to use it against someone would obliterate them in a barreling storm of darkness and magic.   
  
"NO!!!" a voice cried from the sidelines. Seto turned his head, and his heart drooped to his stomach…  
  
"Wheeler!?!!!" Seto shouted with shock. How could he be here?!? How!?! Suddenly, he realized that he'd broken the chant too soon, and worse than that, the Rod shot out it's attack at Joey Wheeler instead of Kikyo! Seto dropped Inu-yasa from his magic hold, but no matter what, he'd be too late.   
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
Kikyo stood ready. She knew that whatever attack Sorcerer Kaiba called would not destroy her. She would throw up her barrier the moment he called it. But then…  
  
"NO!!!" That voice! Her heart dropped and shattered when her ears heard that voice. She turned, and saw HIM running towards her… A face she'd never thought to see again… A kind face… A handsome face…   
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kaiba's attack being rerouted. It was aimed for the young man who ran to them now. It was going to…  
  
"NO!!!!!!" Kikyo shrieked in horror. Tears ran down her cheeks as she reached out for the young, innocent man she cared for…   
  
"NANASHI!!!!!!"  
  
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AN: MUWAHAHAHAHAHA! You didn't really think I'd end it now, did you? Well, one more chapter after this. BTW, for any new readers, in an earlier 'Chaos' story, called 'Tears on My Heart', Kikyo fell in love with Joey. Guess those feelings don't die hard, huh? Anyway, check it out, and get caught up with what's going on. TTFN 


	5. Dangerous Chance

Dangerous Chance  
  
"NANASHI!!!!" Kikyo held her arms out to the fair haired young man who ran to her now. She knew only one way to save his life. The instant she threw up her warded barrier, she saw something extraordinary happen… The boy she called Nanashi became two! One moment, the golden haired boy was himself, the second, it seemed as if he gained a second shadow. The shadow was a man, with Nanashi's face and hair, except that his hair ran in a long plait down his back, and he was adorned in white and tan robes. But both held the key shaped scepter. And as the shadow man raised his key-scepter out, so did Nanashi. Then, when the barrier totally encircled them both, the walls of the ward barrier clouded over. In that small space, it seemed like time had ceased.   
  
Nanashi was one being once more. He stood panting, his key-scepter still over his head. He slowly brought it down, and looked at Kikyo.   
  
"Na…Nanashi…" Kikyo asked warily.   
  
"K…" he tried to say. "Kumiko…" he whispered. He took a shaky step forward, but then he stumbled. She dashed forward, and caught him in her arms.   
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
The minute Kaiba had let his loose his attack, the others hiding in the trees had run forward to try and save Joey, but as the ball of black and yellow light had hit Joey, something strange happened. First, a wall of blue light sprang from the ground, and second… The reaction from the attack hitting the wall caused a shock wave to knock every flat to the ground. Not only did it affect the people in the small area, but it bowed the trees, and shook that ramshackle shrine that stood in front of them.   
  
After moments of total silence, each person dared to move, and then finally got up. Serenity went to Kaiba's side, and with her voice full of concern, she asked him, "Oh Seto, are you okay?"  
  
"What happened?" Kaiba asked. "Where's that idiot brother of yours? What was he thinking?! If that fool got himself obliterated-!"  
"That 'idiot' just saved your life," Kagome said helping Inu-yasha up from the ground. "Both your lives."  
  
Inu-yasha looked around, then, he turned his head to Kaiba and barked, "What the heck was that?! Why did you try to choke me!?"  
  
"I was trying to stop a phantom from shattering my sanity," Kaiba said. "You were in the way."  
  
"You were both out of your senses," Yugi/Yami said, "And now because of that Joey is trapped in that barrier with Kikyo."  
  
"Then let's get him out of there," Mai said. She rushed forward, and as she hit the wall, she felt a shock, of electricity, and staggered back. "Wha… What just happened?"  
  
"Let me try," Serenity said. She tried using her necklace, looking to the past to get an idea of what this thing was, but as she tried to pierce the wall… She too felt the abrupt shock, and shoock where she stood. "It's… It's like time itself has stopped."  
  
"What?" everyone asked her.   
  
"In there…" Serenity said, "It's like there's no past, present, or future. Time's stopped in there…"  
  
"Is this Kikyo's doing?" Sango asked.  
  
"No," Yugi/Yami said, "I think this might be Joey's." They all stared at the dark, electric blue dome, and wondered what their friend was doing in there… and if he was strong enough to stand up against Kikyo.  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
Joey slowly opened his eyes. "Dang," he groaned. He reached up and touched his forehead where the aching was the worst, and asked aloud, "Goodnight! Someone get the number of that truck?" He registered that he was being held by someone… his head rested on the shoulder of someone wearing white, and two pale arms held him close. He rose up, ad then turned his face downward to see the face of the person he stood with.   
  
It was Kumiko, the woman who'd saved him and Yugi once! How could he have forgotten her? But, wait, no. That didn't happen. That had been a dream. This was Kikyo, the dead priestess who was out to kill Inu-yasha, and recently tried to steal Kaiba for her slave. But… the woman he looked at now wasn't the evil priestess that everyone had warned him about. Her eyes weren't cold with hatred… They were the sad eyes of the woman from his dream.   
  
"Nanashi?" she asked gently. "Are you hurt?"  
  
"Huh?" Joey asked her. It all came back to him then. She was both. She was the woman he nicknamed Kumiko- who'd saved his life after he fell from the sky, after a battle with demon birds- and she was Kikyo the priestess. She'd even told him her name, before she had kissed him, and erased the memory of their meeting. Guess she didn't do a good job of it, Joey thought. Then, he had an idea. It would help everyone of his friends, and possibly this poor woman.   
  
"Oh," Joey said, "Oh yeah… I remember now. You're the woman who healed my cracked ribs."  
  
"I…" she said, "They… they were only bruised."  
  
"So," Joey said, "Guess you got over me, huh? I mean, all this stuff with you and Kaiba. You sure got a weird taste in men."  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked him.   
  
"Well, you must really love him if you're doing all this-"  
"I do not love him," she said, looking away from him, but still not letting go.  
  
"What?" Joey asked. "You don't? Then why all this work? Why cause up such a huge fuss about 'gettin' control of his brain, and all that junk? Do you just want his Millennium Staff? If that's the problem-"  
  
"You do not understand, Nanashi," Kikyo said. She did let go then, and clasped her hands n front of her. She didn't look in his eyes as she explained. "I do not want his magic Item. I do not even wish to have his powers. I… I simply did not wish… to be alone. I have given up much, for the sake of those I come to care for. I live in exile, unable to have the live I wish to have… I cannot live at all."  
  
"Well, that's till no reason to throw yourself at the first guy to walk by," Joey said. "You could do a lot better than Kaiba. Like me."  
  
"What?" Kikyo asked, looking up at him.   
  
"Yeah." he said quite seriously. He hoped this plan would work. "Leave the rich boy and take me instead." he lifted his shirt up and said, "Look at that six-pack," Then he flexed his arm, "Check out this action! I'm a million times better than Kaiba."  
  
Kikyo stared at him, very perplexed. Then, she smiled- a true smile, a genuine smile- and she laughed a real laugh of surprised delight.   
  
"See," Joey said, "This is all a joke, Kumiko," then, he surprised the both of them, and hugged her. "I know you feel lonely, but you got to understand that my sister loves Kaiba. If she lost him, it'd break her heart. And I couldn't watch my sister go through that."  
  
They stood there for a few minutes. "You should know better than to tempt me so," Kikyo said. Joey felt his heart beat faster. Did his plan backfire?  
  
"I could do as you ask," Kikyo continued. "I could take you instead of the Sorcerer. I could take your soul and have you always…" She looked up at him, then. Right into his eyes. Then she lifted a chilly hand to gently stoke his cheek. "But… then I would take from you the part of you that makes me love you." The way she looked at him made Joey wonder if she was going to kiss him. But then she pulled herself away from him, and said, "Take your friend, and leave me. Before I change my mind and take you anyway."  
  
"Alright," Joey said. "But you gotta promise not to come after him again when we leave."  
  
"I do." Kikyo said.   
  
"My name's Joey, by the way," he said.  
  
"I know," she said. "I am Kikyo."  
  
"I know," Joey said. He looked at his Staff, and thought… The barrier disappeared. The others stood around the space where the dome had been, and looked at the strange pair. Joey walked over to Yugi, and said, "Don't worry. She won't come after him again. But we gotta go now."  
  
"Right," Yugi said. They turned, and walked away. But before they were back in the forest, Joey turned back, and got one final glimpse of that sad face.   
  
"What exactly happened in there, Wheeler?" Kaiba asked him when they were flying back to the well.  
  
"Nothing," Joey said. "Just a little negotiatin" 


	6. Author's Note

Author's Note:  
  
Hey, this isn't a new chapter, just an author's note to all new readers (and a few old ones who didn't go very far). If you liked 'Dangerous Games', then check out the other stories in, what I call, 'The Chaos Series'. In order, they are:  
  
1) The Chaos Effect  
  
2)Tears On My Heart  
  
3) Duelist Nightmare  
  
4) The Conquest of Kyoto  
  
5) Final Showdown  
  
6) Wedding Day Blues  
  
7) The Wizard of Shikon (a parody)  
  
8) Duelist Treasure Island  
  
9) A Shippo Shorty  
  
10) Father's Day  
  
11) Mokuba's Birthday  
  
12) The Seeds of Chaos  
  
13) Chaos Scare (mini parody)  
  
14) Dangerous Games  
  
And two stories that are in the works as we speak, 'The Power of Chaos' and 'Holy Molie, The Boys Are Babies!', which shall be finished in the near future (I hope).  
  
Anyway, I hope you all will read these fine titles, and please, keep reviewing to let me know about your opinions, ideas, or criticisms. Those are always helpful.  
  
So, TTFN ( Ta Ta For Now)  
  
--- Bluerain --- 


End file.
